giveaway! organic yoga gear from synergy clothing

It’s no secret that IAYB has a soft spot for ethical and sustainable yoga clothing made by small, family-run businesses. IAYB sponsor Synergy Organic Clothing is all of that and more – and we’ve teamed up to bring you a super sweet summertime giveaway!

Lotus Stalk Hannah Legging ~ made with a breathable blend of organic cotton and lycra, these full length leggings have an adorable hand-sewn lotus stalk appliquéLotus Sweetheart Cami ~ a stylish and comfortable tank top that works in yoga class and out on the townPeacock Roll Waist Yoga Pant ~ with a charming peacock appliqué on the leg and waist, these pants look good on the yoga mat, at the gym or on the couch

To enter, all you have to do is answer this question: Does it matter to you if your yoga clothing is organic and ethically sourced? Tell us why!

Simply answer the question in the comments section below* by 5pm EST Friday, August 2 2013. Please list which Synergy item you’d like to win. Three names will be chosen at random and notified by email.

* Please note that everyone who leaves a comment will be signed up for IAYB’s weekly email list. Write OPT OUT at the end of your comment if you’d rather not be added.

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It definitely matters! Organic and fair trade means that the production process is less harmful to the planet and environment and that the workers receive appropriate compensation. Values that could make a better life for everyone! 🙂

Ethically-sourced clothing can be so hard to come by, but worth seeking out. It’s very important to me personally: I come from a family of organic farmers. It’s also important for my sense of integrity and ethics: no one should suffer for my fashion choices, and CERTAINLY not for my fashion choices in yoga practice!

(I would love to win those yoga pants, but I’m also just excited to know about this brand.)

Absolutely!! Knowing that the products I’m purchasing are being sourced are created in safe facilities by workers, who are treated well and paid fair wages is extremely important to me. I strongly support companies who have respect for the environment during production and manufacturing and honor ethical work standards. I believe companies who honor their workers and the environment are part of a positive social change, which is greatly needed in our current world situation.

Yes! It absolutely matters to me. Yoga is about the yamas first and foremost. I will always support companies that prioritize ethical and fair treatment over those that go for the biggest margin. I’m familiar with Synergy because they have a booth at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival every year. I’ve bought about a half dozen pieces from them over the years and I can attest to their quality, workmanship and great fit!

It definitely does matter if your clothing is ethically sourced. Mindfulness must occur on and off the mat — that includes choosing clothing items. Similar to the food that we consume and integrate into our beings, clothes and all objects have different energies when sourced in different ways.

Organic clothing is extremely important, not just to myself but to the world as well, for many reasons. I have sensitive skin that many synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester irritate. Many people often think that buying cotton clothing is better than the synthetic fibers, which it is overall. Most people don’t realize that convential grown cotton only makes up 3% of the world’s farmland, but the pesticides used makes up 25% of the pesticides used world wide. This is extremely detrimental to not only the environment, but our health as many of the pesticides used have been linked to various types of cancer. Of the 84 million pounds of pesticides sprayed on cotton each year, only a small percentage of the pesticides actually do what they are supposed to, while the rest is absorbed into the plant, air, soil, water, and eventually our bodies. Organic cotton actually represents a return to a safer and sustainable way of raising crop. Many workers in synthetic fiber factories are from developing countries who do not receive fair wages and have unsafe working conditions. Buying organic ensures that you are doing a small part to support organic farmers instead of the overseas companies working their employees to death. It may be just a fiber, but organic cotton is doing its part to help change the world and the environment one small step at a time. 🙂 (a little fact-y, but I wanted to highlight some of the differences between conventionally grown cotton and organic cotton because they are not the same!)

Organic and ethically sourced products are of the up most importance to me and I believe should be on the forefront of everyone’s mind. We vote everyday with our money and the things we choose to purchase. When you investigate and purchase wisely you are ultimately saying the wellbeing of mankind and the environment are more important than Walmart prices, which come at their own price. It is comforting to know when you slip on your beautiful peacock yoga pants that they were not made by a child paid pennies in a slave labor operation. I purchased the lotus yoga pants from my favorite local ethically sourced boutique and they are worth every penny.

Yes, it matters that my yoga clothing is ethically sourced and world-conscious. I used to work in a Chinese factory for a consumer products company, and I know what working conditions are like overseas and it’s frequently not a pretty sight. I feel better knowing that my clothes are not made in a sweatshop, and that the workers/artisans who made my garments are paid a fair wage. I also feel better supporting a small company that has a transparent supply chain and connection to the actual source of the goods, instead of a mega company with suspect motivations and tons of media hype/marketing (like Lululemon). Synergy stuff is awesome – I have a dress I purchased at the Boulder CO Hanuman Festival, and I love it!

As a yoga student and instructor, I intend to live in alignment with yogic principles and values. ‘Walking the walk’ rather than simply ‘talking the talk’ asks that I bring my studies to life through conscious thoughts, words and actions.

As a consumer, I choose to invest my dollars (especially as I earn my living teaching yoga) in places and spaces that align with my yogic ethics. When I apply my dollars, I am investing in others who also walk the walk of alignment and integrity. I am encouraging my practice as I support another’s, even as a single consumer, offering my dollars in exchange for a product that was created with conscious intent.

I cultivate community when I recognize that how I source my food is no less of a powerful practice than how I nurture my meditation and thought choices; that how I source my clothing is no less of an active practice than how I choose to nurture my language and word choices.

I am always on the look out for a good affordable organic yoga pant. I don’t want to pay a fortune, I don’t want to contribute to the wealth of multi-national corporations, and I certainly don’t want chemicals and toxins leaching into my skin every time I sweat.

Lately I’ve been fantasizing about opening a yoga emporium called “The Good Life”. Here yogaphiles could find locally made eco-friendly yoga pants as well as yoga props and accessories. There would also be organic teas, beauty and household products, books and DVD’s – in short “everything you need for the yogic lifestyle!”

Sometimes I worry that my vision of the “The Good Life” would have the yogi’s of old wringing their hands. Is it an example of the rampant spiritual materialism that purists claim is twisting the true heart and soul of yoga?

The term spiritual materialism is commonly used to describe the danger of seeking spiritual gains through material objects. i.e. attempting to consume one’s way to enlightenment. To paraphrase Swami Radha, pure food does not does not deliver a pure mind and having organic yoga pants does not necessarily make you a kinder person.

The danger in commodifying yoga is that we get so focused on the possessing the externals, the right pant, the right mat, the right clothes, the right food etc. – that we forget the inner journey.

However, I think we also have to be careful that we aren’t falling under the spell of another kind of illusion. The current definition of spiritual materialism implies the spiritual is somehow separate from the everyday material world, from nature and our bodies. It suggests we move past the seductions and pleasures of worldly life in order to aspire to a higher reality.

I think the term spiritual materialism needs a new spin. I’d like to see it redefined in a more positive and ancient light.

Yoga as we know it today emerged primarily from the goddess based Tantric traditions. Tantrists believed the divine was not just a transcendent force (a spiritual power separate from matter) but an immanent one. Meaning that the sacred is not separate from the physical world, it is embodied in nature, our flesh, our cells and life force energy.

I think spiritual materialism should mean that we recognize that everything, our bodies and even the most material mundane levels of our lives has spiritual significance.

This means the products we buy for our homes, put on our plates and our bodies all have meaning. Whether it’s toothpaste or a potato, where it came from and how it was made, and what impact it will have, matters.

We have a choice to do no harm in the products we buy, and we have a choice to build local sustainable economies and communities. This is the process of spiritualizing matter, bringing the sacred back into life.

To me this is what “The Good Life” is all about. Yoga has developed into a mega-business of lifestyle because it is more than striking a pose. It is about modern yogi and yogini’s who are committed to bringing conscious awareness to all their actions, especially those off the mat and in the real world.

They represent the growing demographic of people who honour the spiritual value in the material world, and in the everyday realities of living. Yoga is obviously not the same as practiced thousands or hundreds of years ago, but a distillation of core values remains.

As the Mother Goddess of the ancient yogis would tell us, the divine is made flesh in the physical world. We can choose the good life – and it doesn’t mean we need to renounce worldly niceties to do it.

We should honour the beauty of the earth and the pleasures of our bodies; they are our bounty and reward for living. Good food and beautiful homes are not sins, and neither is a good yoga pant!

I of course want my clothing to be organic and ethically sourced! I wouldn’t want my buying/wearing a piece of clothing to cause the earth or people harm! It’s not worth it, especially for a piece of cloth when you can spend a little more and have good karma.

Where my yoga clothes come from and how they are made is really important. Yoga is so much more than “exercise,” it is a whole mind-body-soul experience. My clothing should make me feel good physically and mentally because my practice aims for total well-being.

It matters to me that all of my clothing is ethically sourced and the materials are responsibly grown, because clothing and fabric consumption has such a big effect globally. I would love to win the peacock pant or the lotus camisole. OPT OUT.

I tell everyone, even my non-activist friends who would rather not know the ugly truths about how everything is connected, that you can vote with your dollars and make a big impact. Why not buy (aka, support) those companies that have a conscience? Thank you for putting your efforts, time and heart in to a great product!

It’s important to me that my clothing causes as little harm to the earth and to those making it as possible. Plus, when something is ethically produced AND well made, then you’ll be able to wear it for a long time and put less of a burden on landfills. I’d love the Lotus Sweetheart Cami.

It’s super important. Although not always an easy thing to do. That said, I think that if you are going to try to live a happy and healthy lifestyle, the clothes you put on your body need to be a part of those choices too!

As a poor grad student, money is always an issue, but I try to keep the notion of ahimsa close to my heart, and environmentally-friendly, ethical yoga clothing is a large part of that. This clothing looks incredible! I would love the leggings.

It definitely matters to me if my clothes are organic and ethically sourced because I prefer not to support any unethical labour or treatment of living organisms including our great Earth for the exchange of garments or anything really.

Absolutely it matters to me and just naturally fits into what yoga is all about – practicing ahimsa – non harmful behavior in everything we do.
Tough to pick between the three, but my top choice would be the Lotus Leggings.

I would love to win the Lotus Stalk Hannah Legging, and organic matters -– no GMO, natural fabric that won’t hurt our delicate skin, and a product that is in alignment with the principles of Ahimsa and Satya. Sourcing and producing clothing (and all products) fairly and with love and respect for people and the environment is very important to me.

It does, absolutely, as making ethical choices is an essential part of my practice. But I think sometimes we have to be careful–while obviously sometimes making more ethical choices is no more expensive than unethical choices (ie. Lulu), often ethical fair trade, organic options do cost more, and there are many people who can’t afford the luxury of this choice.
I’d love the leggings!

Yes, organic and ethically sourced yoga clothing matters to me. As a mom of 2 kiddos and a yoga teacher, it’s important that I present myself in a way that reflects what I try and teach – kindness to self, to others, to the planet. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the peacock roll waist yoga pant! My fave colour!! I already receive the IAYB newsletter, thanks! It’s great.

I love the Stem and Leaf Empress Dress! I try to buy organic clothing for my kids mostly. I think it is important to try to change my own food, beauty products, cleaners, and clothing to more natural products because of all the nasty chemicals on everything.

I think that clothes represent our values — so, if I choose to eat organic, I love for my clothes to be a reflection of that choice as well. There is something so fulfilling knowing the origin of your clothing and that it was made with heart and body in mind. Also, supporting economies like this helps to boost their success in our world that needs more conscious consumerism and care.

I believe Synergy is the most comfy, beautiful, and compassionate clothing brand that has ever touched my skin. The hannah legging is a god send to me. I wore the one pair i bought 5 years ago until they fell apart 😉